April 19, 2024: After sundown, Jupiter nears a conjunction with planet Uranus. Mars and Saturn are in visible before sunrise. Find the gibbous moon with Leo.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:03 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:37 p.m. CDT. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24
Here is today’s planet forecast:
Morning Sky
Morning Moon
Early risers can catch the gibbous moon near the west-northwest horizon at two hours before daybreak.
Four Morning Planets
Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn are west of the sun and potentially visible in the eastern sky before sunrise. The two inferior planets, Mercury and Venus, named because they are closer to the sun than Earth, are hiding in bright morning light. They rise less than 30 minutes before the sun.
In that bright morning twilight, Mercury passes Venus this morning. Because of these lighting conditions, the conjunction is not visible.
Mars and Saturn are in the east-southeast at 45 minutes before the sun rises. At this hour Saturn is nearly 10° above the horizon. It is marginally visible at this level of twilight.
Mars is 5.6° to Saturn’s lower left and 5° above the horizon. Because the Red Planet mixes with the prismatic hues of morning light, a binocular is needed to see it.
Mars is marching eastward and widens a gap with Saturn. In one to two mornings, the pair is too far apart to fit into the same field of view.
Evening Sky
Evening Moon and Leo
The bright gibbous moon, 87% illuminated, is about halfway up in the southeastern sky. It is in front of Leo for a third evening, nearly 20° to Regulus’s lower left and over 10° to Denebola’s lower right.
The lunar orb reaches the Full (Pink) moon phase on the 23rd at 6:49 p.m. CST.
Imminent Jupiter-Uranus Conjunction
Bright Jupiter is low in the west-northwest. It moves eastward in front of Aries, over 10° below the Pleiades star cluster, part of Taurus.
The Jupiter-Uranus conjunction occurs tomorrow evening, but the event is degraded by the increasing moonlight that washes across the sky, dimming fainter stars, and Jupiter’s low altitude. When celestial bodies are near the horizon, they are dimmed and blurred by the air. This effect makes the sun and moon look redder (orange) and dimmer than when they are higher in the sky.
The accompanying chart shows Jupiter, Uranus, and starfield behind them in an idealistic view. With Jupiter at the center, considerably dimmer Uranus is to the upper right. The planet is dimmer than Delta Arietis (δ Ari on the chart), but brighter than 53 Arietis (53 Ari) and 54 Arietis (54 Ari).
Jupiter sets less than two hours after sundown. The bright moon appears to move westward from Earth’s hourly rotation. Tomorrow morning, find it above the western horizon at two hours before sunrise.
RECENT PODCASTS
LATEST ARTICLES
- 2024, May 18: Jupiter at Solar Conjunction
May 18, 2023: Jupiter passes behind the sun today, reappearing in the morning sky in about a month. The gibbous moon is visible after sundown. - 2024, May 17: May Gibbous Moon with Virgo
May 17, 2023: After sundown, the gibbous moon appears in front of Virgo. Mars expands a gap to Saturn before sunrise. - 2024, May 16: May Evening Gibbous Moon
May 16, 2023: The gibbous moon is in the southwest after sundown near Leo’s stars. Two morning planets are in the eastern sky before sunrise. - 2024, May 15: May Moon-Regulus Conjunction
May 15, 2023: After sundown, a Moon-Regulus conjunction is visible high in the southwest. Mars and Saturn are in the eastern sky before sunup. - 2024, May 14: May Waxing Moon near Leo’s Sickle
May 14, 2023: After sundown, the waxing crescent moon is near the Sickle of Leo. Mars and Saturn are in the eastern sky before sunup.
